The Story of Wazoodle 2.0 ⚡

Hurray! We finally launched our new website! We are more than a year behind schedule (originally slated to release April 2020), there were many hurdles on the way, but we have overcome most of them and are excited to share the good news with you. 

• Delays
• False Starts
• A Phoenix Reborn
• Everything to Love
• What's not to Love

• Why the Delay?

  The website development was put on hold, so we could help fight the battle against COVID-19. When Archana Sharma published the article about the 3 Fabrics That Can Be Used To Make A Face Mask, we had no idea how useful it was going to be and how it would open the flood gates on orders for face mask fabrics. Numerous people across the country and the world took up the call to make masks, gowns, gloves, scrub caps and much more to combat the shortage of PPE and help people navigate the crisis. We were inundated with orders and requests for PPE fabrics. Order volumes changed from about 50 a day to more than 1000 a day and we had to quickly adjust.

  Many fabrics were sold out and the government shut down the textile mills, so we were unable to continue our production lines in PA. We had to disable our websites several times because we did not have fabrics to sell. Thanks to the ingenuity of Sid Sharma of AKAS Tex, we were able to realign our manufacturing to continue making fabrics. He negotiated new partnerships in other states, purchased more knitting machines to increase capacity, and found alternate vendors in other states to keep the supply chain open. He scoured the country for all kinds of yarn and purchased container loads of raw material so we could continue producing.

  Read more about our Customer stories:

  1. How Nancy & The Hotchkiss School Made Medical Gowns in the PPE Battle to Fight COVID-19

  2. Lori Widmar Proves Kindness Isn’t Cancelled

  3. Sharon Mech Donates Face Masks and Laughter

  We spent the months of March to August working double shifts 16 hours a day, 7 days a week to fulfill orders. Our staff, families and friends all pitched in by coming in at 6am and leaving at 10pm. We had breakfast, lunch and sometimes dinner together in our offices & warehouse while working. We knew how vital it was to complete these orders for fabrics that were being used across the globe to make PPE’s.

• The new website work re-commenced, but...

  Finally in December 2020, we resumed our efforts to build the website. Working with an outside company, we spent months designing, developing and testing the site; the big day finally arrived on May 1st. We shut down our website, so they could migrate the information over to the new website (Wazoodle 1.5). However, due to unforeseen complications, we ran into multiple dead ends with the migration and later with the website itself. We launched Wazoodle 1.5 on May 6, but it was loaded with issues. Feedback from our valued customers helped identify the problems plaguing the site, but after weeks of working with the development team, they were unable to fully fix it. Realizing that our new website would never be fully functional, we took the initiative to create a brand new website (Wazoodle 2.0).

• A new team of website warriors was convened and voila!

  Our brand new website was built in a record 4 days and designed completely in-house by our resident staff including Lukas, Sanjana, Maria, Ryan & Karina led by Ash. Wazoodle 2.0 is up and running now, and we’ve listed all of our products; we have taken your feedback and given this new site many upgrades. Although our work is not done yet, here are a few things features about on the new site that you are going to love:

• I-Absolutely-Love-It-List of Wazoodle 2.0

  1. We have merged the Retail and Wholesale websites on this new platform to simplify your shopping experience. Each product page has Retail (Yards) and Wholesale (Rolls) product length options available. And of course, you still get a discount when buying full rolls :) On a few product pages, you may not find a Roll option. For these, you will either see a Yellow “Buy in Bulk & Save” button right below the “Add to Wishlist'' button or we simply don’t have bulk fabric available for that product.

  2. Shop in your own currency - You can now shop for fabrics in your own currency. Look for the currency converter on the right side of the header or footer. If you’re on your mobile device, you can find the currency converter by hitting the menu button and scrolling down to the bottom of the menu.

  3. Fabric Comparison Charts - We have created comparison charts to make it easier for you to find the right fabrics for your unique needs. You can access these charts on the category page under the Comparison tab. See example.

  4. Fabric Finder - You can now search for fabrics by Function or by End Use. We are constantly adding more end uses as we continue to get feedback from our knowledgeable customers.

  5. Share what you are using the product for at checkout - Do not forget to share what you are making with the fabrics. It is a great way to build a community and it helps us create relevant Fabric Finders. Seeing what you make inspires others, and seeing what others make will hopefully inspire you!

  6. Specs & Care Instructions on product pages - Now you can go to any product page, and go to the Specs & Care tabs to learn more information about the fabrics.

  7. Sign up for push notifications - Don’t forget to sign up for push notifications, so we can send you the latest updates about new fabrics, special deals etc.

  8. FAQs - Our Frequently Asked Questions are LIVE and now available to you. If you have any questions that are not answered in the FAQ, drop us a line.

  9. Back in Stock Alerts - You can sign up to be notified for any out of stock fabrics. Simply look for the “Out of Stock - Notify Me When Available” button on the product page.

  10. Create your wishlist - You can create a wishlist of items to save them for later. Hit the ❤️ icon on the top left corner of the fabric image on the category pages or look for the Add to Wishlist button on the product pages, right below the Add to Cart button.

  11. Check Order Status - We want to keep you in the loop. You'll always get a notification when your order ships out and we'll also let you know when it's on its way to you. Just in case you’re wondering where your order is, you can also check out the following page to track your order status.

  12. Seconds Quality Fabrics - Available at a 30% discount, these are the best way to try out fabrics that come with a few tiny quirks, mismatched colors and imperfect stitches.

  13. Development Trial Lots - Available at a 20% discount, they're just not as perfect as we wanted them to be. We’d love to get your feedback on the Development Trial lots, so we can improve the fabric in future production lots.

  14. Grab Bags - Available in 2lbs & 5lbs options, these are insanely good deals on mind-blowingly fun mysteries! Each Bag contains an assortment of fabrics within the fabric style you select and is available for up to a 50% discount. You pick the fabric style. We deliver the mystery.

  15. Fabric Filters - Look out for the Fabric filters on category pages, so you can narrow down your search to find the right fabric for your project. No worries though, you can always reach out to us for any fabric recommendations.

• The Not-so Awesome List of Wazoodle 2.0

  1. We were unable to migrate your account login information, so we had to create a new account for you. On Friday, May 28 we sent you an email with which you could create a password. Check your spam folder just in case.

  2. We were unable to migrate past order information due to incompatible systems. If you need a copy of your past orders, contact us and we’ll email all the copies to you. FYI, you should already have a copy of each of your orders in your email. A simple search of “Wazoodle Fabrics: New Order #” will do the trick.

  There you have it folks.. Wazoodle 2.0 in a nutshell. We are working around the clock to improve your shopping experience, so if you have any suggestions for improvement or if you run into any glitches on the site, send us an email and we’ll work on it right away.